Monday, 13 December 2010

Anti inflamms

Ok, so after a stubborn 2 month wait for this sort of mini flare in my foot to go away, I'm finally giving in. I'm going to give the anti inflammatories my rheumy gave me last time a go.

It's Etodolac (Lodine). The reason Im not keen on taking them is, first of all, I like a wee drink and I dont think those mix well with alcohol in the stomach. Second of all, the flares dont happen every day so I wonder if there's any point taking the pills every day.

So here's my question - how do these anti inflamms work? Are they like DMARDs which take a while to build up, or are they meant to be instant relief (within a couple of hours i mean)?

If they're meant to be instant relief, then there's no point me taking them because they dont make a difference. I tried naproxen before too and it didnt work.

But maybe I'm meant to take them for a long period of time??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I forgot to ask my doctor. :)

5 comments:

I have found a process that works for me. I too have the mini-flares in my feet. When you wake up in the morning, you pretty much know if it is going to be one of those days, so I have a cup of coffee straight away, wait 30 minutes and get on my exercise bike and do 5 minutes (ONLY). Then every couple of hours repeat the exercise, but the coffee only again at lunch. Both exercise and cofee (if you don't abuse either) will raise your cortisol levels. I ususally takes one day of this and I am good to go for a few weeks.

I don't know about you, but I usually know right when I wake up if the day is going to be good or crappy. If it's crappy, I usually try to take some anti-inflams/pain meds right when I wake up. That way, by the time I lazily stroll out of bed and off to start my day, the meds are on their way to working.

i dont know, i generally wake up feeling ok all the time and then a flare might creep up on me in the afternoon or evening. and like i said earlier, i dont notice a difference when i take the anti inflamms for just a day or two.

I get good, fast results from naproxen but have tried to others (mobic, diclofenac) that do absolutely nothing for me. So it may be worth a try! I am by no means a medical professional but I don't have problems with alcohol as long as I take them with food. Good lucck- foot flares are the PITS!

About Me

I like taking pictures, riding around on my bike and listening to music on my headphones with the lights out. I live in Glasgow and love the city. I also have RA and I blog about that, although I try not to let it get me down. That's it really.. Oh and I love squirrels.